For most married couples who start businesses together, seeing
each other too much can be a problem. For Laura and Jonathan
Crawford, however, seeing each other at all was the
dilemma.

In 1997, a year after getting married, the newlyweds, both 31,
opened their first CD Warehouse franchise, which sells new and used
CDs, in Mobile, Alabama. Laura, a former bookkeeper for a high
school, initially started the venture because she wanted to take
her career in a different direction. After financing most of the
$120,000 in start-up costs with personal savings and the sale of a
home, Laura moved to Daphne, Alabama, to live near the business,
while Jonathan continued his high school teaching career back in
Selma, some 150 miles away.

"He really sacrificed," Laura recalls. "He would
take off from work on Thursday night and drive down to help me at
the store. Then he'd get up at 4 a.m. on Monday morning to get
back to his job."

When the Mobile store succeeded beyond the couple's
expectations, the Crawfords opened another location, in Daphne, in
September of last year. Jonathan quit his teaching job and moved to
Daphne to run the new store, while Laura continues to run the
Mobile location.

Despite the distance, Laura says, they both appreciate the
rewards of entrepreneurship. "It's been a real growing
experience for the two of us," she says. "We learned how
to work together and be apart at the same time. And I love being
able to put the work into [my own business] and see the results for
myself." And since they hit total sales of $400,000 last year,
the Crawfords plan to open a third location in Pensacola, Florida.
(No word yet on who will run that one.)

CD Warehouse Inc. has 275 franchised locations and is seeking
franchisees nationwide. Total start-up costs range from $123,300 to
$150,300.

Just For Kicks

Bruce Lee did it. Ally McBeal did it. Now you can do it (and
teach it, too). Power Kickbox, a new franchise company in Austin,
Texas, is spreading the gospel of kickboxing with its franchise
opportunity.

Franchisees learn kickboxing as well as business techniques;
they can either hold classes in community centers or open their own
Power Kickbox locations. Because most classes take place in the
evening, says owner Steve Doss, it's an ideal part-time
business.

Power Kickbox is seeking fitness-oriented, motivated franchisees
in the United States and Canada who enjoy working with people.
Total start-up costs are $900.

Self-Maid Men

It's no surprise that Mark Kushinsky's MaidPro Inc.,
which specializes in residential cleaning, developed from the
33-year-old entrepreneur's own efforts, with help from business
partner Richard Sparacio, 31. Whether it was writing his own
software program, MaidSoft, or building a franchised company,
Kushinsky has always been self-reliant.

What prompted two young guys to clean up in the maid-service
industry, you might ask? Kushinsky, a former department manager at
a retail store, points to his dissatisfaction with the quality of
service he received from two maid companies. Convinced he could do
better, Kushinsky split the start-up costs with longtime friend
Sparacio, and they began the business in 1991 with a mere $2,000.
"I'd been thinking about [entrepreneurship] for
years," Kushinsky explains. "I wanted a business I could
run better than the competition."

As the business grew and the number of customers and employees
increased, Kushinsky found he needed a software program that could
manage all the fluctuating schedules. Finding nothing suitable on
the market, Kushinsky, with the help of a computer consultant,
wrote the code that would become MaidSoft.

MaidPro began franchising in 1997. The Boston-based company has
nine franchised locations and recently filmed its first TV
commercial. MaidPro is seeking franchisees nationwide; start-up
costs range from $18,000 to $35,000.